The Other Guy
by TheIronBat
Summary: Somewhere between the Battle of Manhattan and arriving at the Avengers Mansion, Bruce Banner found the time to have a heart to heart with his inner rage and came to an understanding with the Hulk.


**TIB:** Just what the summary says; it's what Bruce has been up to since the Battle of Manhattan.

* * *

"Ah, Dr. Banner, I had hopes that I would reach you in time." Bruce startled at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, and he glanced down at the man beside him. He was in a wheelchair, and his smile was a little too knowing.

"I'm sorry, I don't—"

"Charles Xavier." Ah, that was the only introduction needed. Yes, the government had somehow managed to cover up the incident in San Francisco with the mutants, but Charles Xavier was more than just a mutant. He's one of the leading authorities on genetics, and Bruce has studied his work for years.

"Professor, it's an honor to meet you," Bruce said as he reached down to shake the man's hand.

"The honor is all mine, Dr. Banner. I realize that you are in a hurry, but I was hoping to point you in the right direction."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you—"

"Go to Dizzy Mears. She will be able to help you." It took Bruce a second to realize that the professor's lips hadn't moved and that the voice was inside his mind. Telepathy? That was new.

"Where can I find Miss Mears?" Bruce didn't bother asking about the man's ability.

"Tasmania, for now. You'd best hurry. She moves around a lot." The man smiled at him, and Bruce reached down to pick up his bag.

"Thanks, but, why are you helping me?" Bruce really needed to get a move on if he wanted to catch the plane, but he wanted to hear the answer.

"Goodbye, Dr. Banner. I look forward to seeing you again someday." Bruce nodded in acknowledgement of the dismissal and hurried off.

**.xXx.**

"Ah, Dr. Banner! So Professor X sent ya to me, yeah? Good call on that. Wow, you are seriously fucked in the head, ain't ya? Well, at least you're a looker. Could be worse. Come on in! I just put the tea on!" Bruce was standing in front of a small house, with one bag containing all of his worldly possessions, and watching a complete stranger rattle off about his mental state.

"I guess you are Miss Dizzy Mears?" he asked as he stepped inside. The house was full of clutter, from dolphin figurines to stacks of books taller than he is. One stack actually went to the ceiling. Next to it was a table loaded down with potholders.

"Good guess there, Banner. So, you're here to contact the Hulk, right?" Bruce slowly lowered himself down into an old blue kitchen chair and tried not to knock over the stacked plates on the kitchen table.

"Are you a telepath as well?"

"Yeah, 'fraid so."

"And you can help me contact the other guy?"

"Nope, 'fraid not." The woman, Dizzy, dropped a giant cup into his hands before sashaying back to the stove.

"Then why did Professor Xavier send me here?" The woman, _Dizzy_, fixed herself a cup of tea and then jumped up onto the counter.

"Well, Banner, only you can contact the Hulk. He's your split personality, not mine. I'm just here to give you the means to contact him."

"The means?"

"Yup. After that, I'd suggest going to a desert somewhere. The big guy is not happy with you, mostly because you ignore him so much. You've got a lot of bridges to build and a lot of apologies to make. And before you get all pissed, you guys are one in the same."

"That's not possible." The woman slid off the counter, placed her drink on the tiled floor, and strolled over to him. Her smooth palms clapped against his face and forced his eyes to meet hers, and he watched as her pupils expanded to cover the blue of her eyes.

"The serum releases what's already inside. The Hulk has been inside of you since day one, and all of that gamma radiation let him out. I get that you're scared of him, but he only exists to protect you. You should show him some respect."

The woman released him, walked over to pick up her tea, and hopped back onto the counter. Bruce sipped at his own tea with steady hands and tried to process what just happened.

"What are you going to give me?" The woman grabbed a bag out of the sink and tossed it to him, and Bruce nearly knocked over the staggering tower of plates behind him. It was a giant bag of purple flowers, and he raised a brow in question.

"Smoke it, drink it, I don't care. Just get it in somehow. Oh, and don't eat beforehand. It won't end good for anyone. You can stay here for the night, but you'll need to leave first thing in the morning. And don't start with that self-deprecating bullshit, because I ain't scared of ya. If you slow down, you'll talk yourself out of it. Come back and see me when you two have a working relationship. I'd like to actually talk to the big guy."

"Talk?"

**.xXx.**

Dizzy had been right, the other guy was not happy to see him at first. Or the second time. Both times, Bruce was fully conscious while Hulk rampaged throughout the desert and smashed everything in sight. He came to sore and starving, but he could remember _everything_. In perfect detail. For his third try, he decided to up his dosage. He drank a thermos full of his flowery tea while smoking four crushed flowers, and the effects hit him harder than Hulk could smash. One moment he was looking at his fire and worried that he somehow went immune, and the next he was green and blinking up at the stars. So, he'd dosed himself enough to get Hulk high.

"_Uh, Hulk?"_

"_**Banner!" **_It was…odd. Bruce could feel Hulk's hands fisting in the dirt, like a phantom limb. He could feel it, but he was not in control. Okay, first thing first, he needed to apologize. Right?

"_I'm sorry, Hulk."_ Would he even understand the apology?

"_**Banner lie, not sorry."**_ Okay, he definitely understood. Hulk sounded almost sad and nowhere near as angry as the first two times.

"_I am sorry, Hulk."_

"_**Why?"**_ Maybe Hulk was smarter than he ever realized. It was a question that Bruce didn't know how to answer.

"_I'm sorry for ignoring you. That was very wrong of me."_ Hulk just snorted, and Bruce could tell that the other guy didn't believe him. And why should he?

"_**Banner hate Hulk. Lock Hulk up, in the dark."**_ Bruce had a flash memory of a dark closet, and he felt his own consciousness shudder at the distant memory. The dark was where people hid, where no one could see you.

"_I don't hate you, Hulk. I'm…scared of you." _It was an unsettling feeling, being scared of the manifestation of your subconscious, but that didn't make it any less true.

"_**Hulk save Tony. Hulk save Betty. Hulk save Banner."**_

"_You've killed a lot of people too."_

"_**Not mean to. Accident."**_

"_We need less accidents." _It was almost like talking to a child; a child with temper tantrums that could destroy cities, but a child nonetheless. Hulk just snorted in reply, but it was something. It was a start.

**.xXx.**

"_Ready to go back?"_ They were in the same position as they were when they had their first actual conversation, but it felt very different this time. Hulk was calmer as he laid on his back and looked up at the stars, and Bruce was more used to being a back-seat driver in his own mind.

"_**You still let Hulk out?"**_

"_I'll still let you out. Tony built a room for us, so you can come out whenever you want."_

"Yo, Hulkster! Quit drinking up the Milky Way and get in here before your rabbit gets cold!" Dizzy called from the back door. Hulk easily pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked over his shoulder at the small house.

"_**Dizzy is weird."**_

"_Yeah, she is." _Bruce and Hulk both understood that they owed her though. Without Dizzy, they wouldn't be able to communicate. They wouldn't understand one another.

**.xXx.**

Bruce was changing the moment he heard the gunfire and saw the helicopters, and Hulk was able to get onto the roof with one powerful jump. There was only one person on the roof with a bomb that was about to go off, and Hulk didn't think twice. He put his back to the bomb and stood protectively over the person. A woman. Her eyes were clenched shut for a moment and then slowly opened. All Hulk, and therefore Bruce, could see was the top of her head. There was a deep cut across her forehead and half of her face was slick with blood. She was also covered in bullet holes but still standing.

"Okay?" Hulk's back was on fire, but he wasn't worried. The girl's face tipped back, and a pair of dark hazel eyes stared up at him. Her mouth was parted a little as she sucked in a deep breath, and Hulk waited for her reaction. Bruce was a little horrified to realize that Hulk was prepared for revulsion and fear, just like Bruce normally was.

"My hero!" The woman's arms were wrapped around his neck as far as they would go, and Bruce could feel a low growl building in Hulk's chest.

"_She's hugging you, Hulk, not trying to hurt you. She's thanking you." _Hulk grunted at that and gently lifted the girl higher into the air. He placed her on his shoulder, and a different kind of growl rumbled his chest as she brushed a hand through his hair. Bruce saw Tony through Hulk's eyes and heard him call the woman's name, Jo. Tony's bodyguard, the indestructible mutant. That definitely made sense. Hulk didn't pay any attention as the other three talked; he just felt the woman's light weight on his shoulder and listened for any new threats.

"Hulk, buddy, when did you get here?" Hulk looked down at Tony, and Bruce let him come up with his own response. They've been working on grammar lately, but learning by doing is the best strategy sometimes.

"Banner coming to stay. Heard guns." Hulk shrugged slowly, and the woman remained perfectly calm.

"Glad you did too. That was gonna hurt like a bitch," the woman said. Her voice was rough, but not as rough as Hulk's voice.

"Humph, you too puny." His words might not show it, but Bruce could tell that Hulk was happy at the woman's words.

"Hey, we're all too puny next to you." Hulk felt her face resting on top of his head, and her body slowly fell against him. She was laying on Hulk now, not sitting up.

"_You need to put her down. She's been hurt and needs to be taken care of."_

"_**Take care of her?"**_

"_Yeah, I'll take care of her." _Hulk gently, so gently, picked the woman up and held her close to his chest. Even as he disappeared back into Bruce's mind, he held the woman carefully and watched to make sure her chest was moving. Hulk didn't sleep until he saw her eyes open one more time.

* * *

**Finis:** It's short and sweet, but it hopefully cleared some things up. I purposefully didn't describe Dizzy because she can be anyone, but she's still one of my fave OCs. Because of reasons.


End file.
